Shanghai Disneyland VIP/Premier Tour

[AZMama2016]

Hi - We are going to be at the park in a few months and have contracted with a local tour company to drive us to the park and back and provide a guide inside the park. They will be buying our tickets for us. We figured this would help with navigation and language, especially since we will only be there for about 5 hours.

I’m now thinking to add a Disney Premier Tour guide on top. I assume this is akin to the plaids at the US parks. We would be paying for our family plus the tour guide already contracted. Just seems like this would help a lot, especially since we probably will miss out on FPs due to mid-afternoon arrival. The Disney guide would be able to help us plan in advance to see the most in the limited time, help to cut down on ride wait times, and get us preferred seating for shows or parades. The cost is very reasonable from a US perspective and totally worth it IMO.

Has anyone done this tour? What did you think of it? Any tips?

Also how much in advance did you book the tour? I need to arrange this through the tour company (just have them contact Disney, set up the tour and pass the cost through to us), but my contact is out on “annual leave traveling” with limited email access until 2/18. Do I need to panic and call Disneyland myself to book it, or is it safe to wait until she returns?

Thank you!

 

[indoshakespeare]

My cousin has done the VIP tour in both Shanghai and Anaheim. She said they're exactly the same. I think theyre quite popular so you should book it as soon as possible.

However, Shanghai has paid Fastpasses so if you miss out on the tour, you can buy the FPs and skip the lines.

 

[AZMama2016]

My cousin has done the VIP tour in both Shanghai and Anaheim. She said they're exactly the same. I think theyre quite popular so you should book it as soon as possible.

However, Shanghai has paid Fastpasses so if you miss out on the tour, you can buy the FPs and skip the lines.

Thank you. I was thinking of getting the paid FP passes, but I’m a little worried they’ll be gone by the time we get there. We are arriving by cruise ship around 12, so I’m guessing 3 pm by the time we disembark, get through customs, and make the drive. The tour would negate this need.

Looks like the only way to contact them is by phone, so that means a very expensive phone call tonight. Hopefully I can reach someone who speaks English as well!

 

[Sherry Berry]

Call using skype. It's very inexpensive. I tried calling for my March trip but they said you can only book tours a month in advance. On their website, they also offer concierge fast passes that you can buy 10 days in advance. I think they changed tour and fast options on Jan 1, 2019.

 

[AZMama2016]

Call using skype. It's very inexpensive. I tried calling for my March trip but they said you can only book tours a month in advance. On their website, they also offer concierge fast passes that you can buy 10 days in advance. I think they changed tour and fast options on Jan 1, 2019.

If I can’t book until a month out, that works since I can have the tour company take care of it. Wish the website had that info. I also can’t find anything more on FPs to purchase ahead of time, so if you have a link, I’d appreciate it. We won’t be staying at a resort hotel. Thank you so much!

 

[Sherry Berry]

If I can’t book until a month out, that works since I can have the tour company take care of it. Wish the website had that info. I also can’t find anything more on FPs to purchase ahead of time, so if you have a link, I’d appreciate it. We won’t be staying at a resort hotel. Thank you so much!

Look for the fast passes under Concierge Services.

 

[AZMama2016]

Look for the fast passes under Concierge Services.

Found it, thank you. Looks like two packages with the attractions getting FPs making the difference. Price is comparable to the tour guide option, so now I’m wondering which would be better. Considering we will already have a tour guide, maybe the FP package would make more sense. Also with only about 5-6 hours there, I’m wondering if the deluxe is worth it. It would be nice to have all of the options but could we reasonably do all of these rides on FP in that time? The ones I really wanted were TRON and Pirates and would likely want to do them more than once.

Classic Disney Premier Access Set: Soaring Over the Horizon, Roaring Rapids, TRON Lightcycle Power Run, Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue, Peter Pan's Flight, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure

Deluxe Disney Premier Access Set: Soaring Over the Horizon, Roaring Rapids, TRON Lightcycle Power Run, Buzz Lightyear Planet Rescue, Peter Pan's Flight, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure, Rex’s Racer, Woody’s Roundup, Challenge Trails at Camp Discovery, Voyage to the Crystal Grotto

I can book these packages online, which is a plus, but it only gave me options for 5 days out. If I go this route, will have to make sure I can check the site on my trip leading up to the day I need the passes so I don’t miss the window (or maybe I can have the third party tour company take care of it).

 

[indoshakespeare]

the extra rides on the Deluxe Set are not worth it IMO.

 

[Sherry Berry]

I'm debating between the Concierge Package and the Premiere tour guide as well. It would be nice to go on ANY ride without waiting. I'm wondering what the wait difference is between a fast pass and the VIP tour access. I'm assuming with the tour guide, you wouldn't have to wait at all whereas with the fast pass, there's still a short wait. Please correct me if I'm wrong. We're a group of 4, so for us, it would be half the price to just use the fast pass option.

 

[AZMama2016]

the extra rides on the Deluxe Set are not worth it IMO.

Thanks! Cost for classic is about 2/3 the price of Deluxe, so that would make the price more attractive for the concierge package over the Premier Tour.

 

[AZMama2016]

I'm debating between the Concierge Package and the Premiere tour guide as well. It would be nice to go on ANY ride without waiting. I'm wondering what the wait difference is between a fast pass and the VIP tour access. I'm assuming with the tour guide, you wouldn't have to wait at all whereas with the fast pass, there's still a short wait. Please correct me if I'm wrong. We're a group of 4, so for us, it would be half the price to just use the fast pass option.

I’m curious about waits as well. Another week and I can have the tour company call and find out.

 

[Sherry Berry]

I called the Shanghai Disneyland tour offices and they are now taking reservations for premier tours 15 days in advance. The concierge fast passes seem to change depending on the day. I've seen them sold a week in advance then other days it changes to a few days.

 

[AZMama2016]

I called the Shanghai Disneyland tour offices and they are now taking reservations for premier tours 15 days in advance. The concierge fast passes seem to change depending on the day. I've seen them sold a week in advance then other days it changes to a few days.

My tour contact is checking on this for me but I haven’t heard back yet. At least I don’t have to panic about booking right away! I think we’ll go ahead with the Premier Tour just to give ourselves maximum flexibility for the few hours we’re there.

 

[Sherry Berry]

I did some reading online and it looks like the tours get you on rides without fastpasses by entering through the exits. Sounds amazing, but it's too expensive for me.

 

[AZMama2016]

My tour guide contact confirmed it’s a 15 day booking and I will have to call directly to reserve it. I’m going to do it, especially since our time there has been cut down. We are now arriving around 2 and have to get through customs and the 1.5 drive there, so looks like we may get 3-4 park hours at most. The Premier Tour will ensure we can do the attractions we want with minimal wait. The good news is I don’t have to pay for the other tour guide to go with us on the Disney part, and the two tour guides will be in contact directly to make sure the hand-off happens smoothly.

 

[Sherry Berry]

Are you applying for a 24 hour transit visa? I've read that they're much tighter with issuing those. If you're going to spend all that money on the tour which is nonrefundable, it will be a good idea to have a visa issued ahead of time just in case.

 

[AZMama2016]

Are you applying for a 24 hour transit visa? I've read that they're much tighter with issuing those. If you're going to spend all that money on the tour which is nonrefundable, it will be a good idea to have a visa issued ahead of time just in case.

We actually got 10-year tourist visas. We’re on a cruise and they told us we could only get the exemption if we were taking cruiseline tours but if not, we were on our own in terms of visa guidance. So we opted to spring for the visas to be safe. We will be in Shanghai for literally 24 hours only. So now we’re exploring coming back on a land tour, maybe with ABD, so we get more usage out of the visas.

 

[cynditech]

We are headed to Shanghai in a few months too. We are planning only a day or half day at Disneyland and started looking into booking a tour, since we will not have much time there. I'm following along taking in all the advice!

 

[AZMama2016]

I will be there mid-May so will post details as soon as I can!

 

[supedewoop]

I also strongly suggest Early Access if you're able to go in the morning and limited on time! Similarly, if you have to choose morning or afternoon, definitely go with morning. It wasn't until 1pm or so that the crowds really picked up. My Shanghai-based friend says that's true of a lot of touristy things around, as well. I intend on asking cast members next time I go, but I have to practice the Chinese for it, haha.